Japanese cos seek to expand local procurement: JETRO

Country Representative of the Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) Yuji Ando on Tuesday said Bangladesh has the most competitive wage and potential domestic market among the countries in Asia and the Oceania.
He also said Japanese companies consider that expansion in local procurement of parts and materials is a factor for their future business success.
Citing a recent survey of the JETRO on the Japanese companies' expansion plan in the next two years, he noted that the companies reported complexities in rules and regulations, especially in customs clearance procedure, as well as in loan processing, taxation, wage compliance, and getting skilled manpower.
The JETRO country representative said this while handing over a certificate to Deputy Commissioner of Chattogram Customs House (CCH) Salahuddin Rizvi Mohammad for completing a training, offered by the JETRO. CCH Commissioner M Fakhrul Alam was present on the occasion at CCH.
The Institute of Developing Economics Advanced School (IDEAS) of Japan and the IDE-JETRO, which is a research institute of the JETRO, have been offering the four-month training programme for the government officials since 1991.
The JETRO Dhaka chief hoped that the IDE-JETRO training programme for the officials would help Bangladesh government to improve the current business environment that the Japanese companies are facing here, especially in tax and customs policy and operation, and to ease the way to invite more Japanese companies in the coming days.
According to the 2021 JETRO survey on business condition of Japanese companies operating in Asia and Oceania, some 65 per cent of the companies operating in Bangladesh opined that they would be able to make profit in 2022, as the COVID-19 pandemic situation is improving gradually.
Also, 68 per cent of the Japanese companies in Bangladesh would expand their business activities in the next one to two years due to increase in business confidence.
This year marks 50th anniversary of Japan-Bangladesh friendship. Since 1991, more than 25 officials from different ministries and agencies, including finance, NBR, planning, post and telecommunication, and BIDA, took part in the IDEAS training programme.
The training aims to develop capacity of the government officials, who are engaged in policymaking - related to trade and investment, in the emerging and developing countries in Asia and Africa. Due to the worldwide pandemic, the IDEAS offered the training online for second year in a row.

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